diff --git a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
index f15eee0..181d6fc 100644
--- a/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
+++ b/ext/mysql2/mysql2_ext.c
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ VALUE mMysql2, cMysql2Client;
 VALUE cMysql2Error, intern_encoding_from_charset;
 ID sym_id, sym_version, sym_async;
 
+#define REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(_ctxt) \
+  if(!_ctxt->net.vio) { \
+    rb_raise(cMysql2Error, "closed MySQL connection"); \
+    return Qnil; \
+  }
+
 /*
  * non-blocking mysql_*() functions that we won't be wrapping since
  * they do not appear to hit the network nor issue any interruptible
@@ -180,6 +186,7 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_async_result(VALUE self) {
 
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
 
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_read_query_result, client, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
     return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
   }
@@ -222,6 +229,8 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_query(int argc, VALUE * argv, VALUE self) {
 
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
 
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
+
   args.mysql = client;
   if (rb_thread_blocking_region(nogvl_send_query, &args, RUBY_UBF_IO, 0) == Qfalse) {
     return rb_raise_mysql2_error(client);
@@ -270,6 +279,7 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_escape(VALUE self, VALUE str) {
 
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
 
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   newLen = mysql_real_escape_string(client, escaped, StringValuePtr(str), RSTRING_LEN(str));
   if (newLen == oldLen) {
     // no need to return a new ruby string if nothing changed
@@ -314,6 +324,7 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
 #endif
 
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
 
   version = rb_hash_new();
   rb_hash_aset(version, sym_id, LONG2FIX(mysql_get_server_version(client)));
@@ -331,18 +342,21 @@ static VALUE rb_mysql_client_server_info(VALUE self) {
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_socket(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return INT2NUM(client->net.fd);
 }
 
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_last_id(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return ULL2NUM(mysql_insert_id(client));
 }
 
 static VALUE rb_mysql_client_affected_rows(VALUE self) {
   MYSQL * client;
   Data_Get_Struct(self, MYSQL, client);
+  REQUIRE_OPEN_DB(client);
   return ULL2NUM(mysql_affected_rows(client));
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/mysql2/client.rb b/lib/mysql2/client.rb
index b98aa21..e49ed4b 100644
--- a/lib/mysql2/client.rb
+++ b/lib/mysql2/client.rb
@@ -3,14 +3,13 @@ module Mysql2
     def initialize opts = {}
       init_connection
 
-      self.connect_timeout = opts[:connect_timeout]
-
+      [:reconnect, :connect_timeout].each do |key|
+        next unless opts.key?(key)
+        send(:"#{key}=", opts[key])
+      end
       # force the encoding to utf8
       self.charset_name = opts[:encoding] || 'utf8'
 
-      # force reconnection behavior in libmysql
-      self.reconnect = true
-
       ssl_set(*opts.values_at(:sslkey, :sslcert, :sslca, :sslcapath, :sslciper))
 
       user     = opts[:username]
diff --git a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
index 065c129..7165f48 100644
--- a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
@@ -45,6 +45,13 @@ describe Mysql2::Client do
     @client.close.should be_nil
   end
 
+  it "should raise an exception when closed twice" do
+    @client.close.should be_nil
+    lambda {
+      @client.close
+    }.should raise_error(Mysql2::Error)
+  end
+
   it "should respond to #query" do
     @client.should respond_to :query
   end